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Background

Leon Cosler, RPh, PhD, is a tenured associate professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice at ÂÌñÉç's School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. 

He received his BS in pharmacy from Albany College of Pharmacy in Albany, N.Y.; his MS in pharmacy administration from West Virginia University School of Pharmacy in Morgantown; and a PhD in health systems administration from Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. He is a New York state licensed pharmacist and, prior to joining academia, was director of research for the New York State Medicaid Program. Before joining ÂÌñÉç in 2015, he was associate professor of pharmacoeconomics and co-founder of the Research Institute for Health Outcomes at Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. 

Currently, Cosler is a standing member of the Health Care Research and Training (HCRT) study section for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and a member of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee for MVP Health Care. He also serves on the Broome County Community Health Assessment (CHA) Steering Committee. In November 2022 he was appointed as a member to the New York State Board of Pharmacy.

Cosler’s current passions are his teaching and professional career development of young pharmacists. He involves students in his current research, which includes opioid prescribing patterns, emergency room prescribing patterns using the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) and linking Medicare data with nursing home assessment records to evaluate the management of urinary incontinence and management of urinary tract infections (UTIs).

With more than 20 years of experience in pharmacy education, Cosler has had a variety of academic leadership roles. As the first faculty member hired in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, he served as chair of the Department of Health Outcomes and as interim chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice. He was elected to serve as the school’s Faculty Council Secretary (2021-2023). He served as the school’s liaison to the University Faculty Senate as a member of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee (2016-2021) and as a Faculty Senator (2016-2021, 2023-2025). In 2017, he also completed the AACP Academic Leadership Fellows Program (cohort 13).

Education

• AACP Academic Leadership Fellows Program
• PhD, health systems, Union Graduate College
• MS, pharmacy administration, West Virginia University College of Pharmacy
• BS, pharmacy, Albany College of Pharmacy

Research Interests

• Large-scale database analyses
• Pharmacoeconomic evaluations
• Decision modeling
  
• Pharmaceutical outcomes

Awards

• Teacher of the Year Award, ÂÌñÉç School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2020-21 and 2021-22

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